


Secret Ties and Little White Lies

by Megameatloafcake



Series: FBI AU! [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternative Universe - FBI, Character Death, Drama, F/M, Graphic Mentions of Dead Bodies, Kaiba Being Secretive, Lots of Swearing This Go Around, More Tags As I Write The Story, National Police Agency, Some Gross Shit, Some Sexual Content?, Undercover Missions, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2019-10-03 15:18:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17286515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megameatloafcake/pseuds/Megameatloafcake
Summary: After the death of an agent you are sent undercover to join a newer yakuza clan called the Doma, which is rapidly growing in power, to help get an undercover agent out of danger after being compromised. With the help of a certain powerful individual, you are easily accepted into the group by the charismatic leader Dartz- though as the mission continues, you begin to question who you should truly trust.





	1. Surpise, Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> Happy belated New Year everyone!!
> 
> I apologize for taking such a long time to post this new story, but I OFFICIALLY GRADUATED COLLEGE!!! *confetti* This means that I'll have more time to dedicate to writing this story outside of working, though I am not entirely sure how many chapters this story will be. I hope you all enjoy this story as much as the others!

Once you opened the door of your apartment you slowly made your way to your bedroom, making sure to remain as quiet as possible so that you wouldn’t be waking the inhabitants up. You gently placed your keys on the table in the hallway and crept your way back to your bedroom, slowly opening the door and shutting it behind you. You toed your shoes off as you quietly set your bag down before you began stripping down to your underwear and bra. You used the light from your phone’s screen to find your charger and plugged your phone in, then slipped under the sheet and blanket as slowly as your stiff muscles would allow- though despite your very best efforts, you still managed to make your bedmate stir a little. He peeked at you from over his bare shoulder and said your name in a sleep-laced voice. You smiled apologetically and kissed him just above his eyebrow.

“Hi, I’m sorry for waking you.”

Ryou took a breath through his nose as he blindly searched for his own phone.

"Are you just _now_ getting back? What time is it?"

"It's about three-thirty in the morning," you replied, releasing a pleased groan as you finally settled yourself on the bed.

Ryou frowned.

"The bloody hell do they have you doing to keep you there so late?"

You grinned at him wryly as he laid back down and turned over to face you, his hand rubbing at your shoulder.

"I know they don't really show this on television or anything, but a good 85% of my job is spent sitting behind a desk and completing paperwork. I think I've began to develop carpal tunnel."

You heard Ryou grunt a little at your humor before he pulled you closer to him, and you savored his clean scent and warm body.

"You can set an appointment at the clinic , I could probably run the check-up and get some x-rays for you if you want."

You smiled, feeling completely content and a little touched at his concern. 

"That sounds nice," you replied.

You then craned your neck up a little to kiss him on his lips, which he was more than happy to return despite his drowsiness. But before you two could really go anywhere more, your phone rang. You released an annoyed huff before you answered the call by saying your last name, as you usually did.

You sat up urgently when you heard Yugi say your name in a panicked voice.

“Yugi? What’s wrong?”

“T-there’s been a yakuza murder!”

You adjusted yourself on the bed and rested your back against the pillows, knowing that Ryou was curiously watching you as you talked.

“Are you sure it’s the yakuza? What makes you say that?”

“They identified the b-body as agent Saito Makoto, h-h-h,” Yugi paused to let out a frustrated sigh at his stuttering, “he had been sent undercover to bust this yakuza sanction. They found him a few hours ago, with all ten of his fingers cut off!”

You nodded to yourself, but you rose an eyebrow at the mention of the corpse not having his ten fingers. Usually the yakuza would chop off one knuckle of a finger at a time if someone went against the wishes of the yakuza boss, offering it as repentance. They usually wouldn’t repeat the offense, so why would the boss go so far as to remove ALL his fingers? You pinched the bridge of your nose and squeezed your eyes shut for a moment.

“Have we seen this sort of killing before?”

“No, but they found a note by his body. He...he’s been compromised. They knew he was an agent!”

You were suddenly forced awake by the sudden jolt of realization of what Yugi meant.

“...your brother...”

You heard Yugi take in a shuddering breath. His older brother Atem had been sent undercover to infiltrate the yakuza a couple of years ago. If they were able to discover Saito, who had been undercover at the yakuza years before Atem, then who knows how long Atem could possibly have if they had truly been compromised. You nodded.

“Are we all meeting?”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

You nodded tiredly.

“I’m on my way.”

The two of you said your goodbyes and hung up. You ran your hands over your face and let out a heavy sigh.

“I have to go back in.”

Ryou nodded understandingly. The two of you had been dating for about a year before you started living together, and the past three months of living with Ryou left you feeling incredibly content. With his profession as a doctor he was no stranger to being called into work at strange times, so the two of you managed to work with your odd working hours. You leaned over and turned on the lamp on your nightstand before you slipped out from the covers and began to collect your discarded clothes.

“Do you deal with the yakuza often?”

You shook your head as you tossed your clothes into a nearby hamper and made your way into your shared bathroom to fix your appearance up a little more.

“ _I_ never have, but I know that there are some precincts in Japan who deal with them more often than we do here in Domino. It’s a little strange, I didn’t think we had any yakuza here.”

As you quickly reapplied your makeup you heard your boyfriend hum in response. As you looked in the mirror you frowned when you saw your reflection. Your fingers absent-mindedly traced over the scars that were on your chest, easily able to make out the faintly pink words “too late” that had been etched into your skin a little more than a year ago. You had plenty of other scars all over your body from the years of being on your job, but these ones seemed to have left a much bigger impact. You noticed the messy white hair of your bed-headed boyfriend in the mirror as he placed his chin on your shoulder and observed you in the mirror, gently fingering the scars on your chest delicately as though they were fresh wounds that he was afraid to open again.

“...you know, if it weren’t for these scars we wouldn’t be where we are today,” he softly muttered before placing a gentle kiss on your neck.

You smiled back at him. No matter how shitty you felt about yourself, Ryou was always there to reassure you and to make you feel better. His warm brown eyes had a calming effect over you and always held a gentle loving look that made your heart soar. You blushed a little and smiled, turning your head to face him.

“I know,” you responded and gave him a peck on his cheek.

Ryou laughed a little at your affection before he fixed his gaze back to your reflection, his soft hands absentmindedly tracing over your body and some of your other scars. He frowned when his fingers laid on some relatively fresh scars, two small dots on the left side of your abdomen.

“These look like burn marks, I haven't seen _these_ before.”

You grinned cheekily at him when your eyes met his concerned ones in the mirror.

"Tell me what you think, _doctor_ ,” you teased, bumping your backside against him playfully.

Ryou hummed a little in thought as he observed the scars through the reflection in front of them, making you giggle a little when he went into 'doctor mode'.

"I would say these are relatively fresh, maybe a couple of days old judging by the color." He pressed his lips together, he looked so cute when he was deep in thought. "They aren't cigarette burns, nor do they look like electrical burns." He gave you a curious look, "were you tased?"

You reached up and kissed the tip of his nose before you turned your attention to sprucing yourself up.

“You got it! They added some new test thing to the NPA, where each officer had to be able to withstand being tased and pepper sprayed.”

Ryou gave you a bewildered look.

“They can get away with basically torturing you?”

You hummed affirmatively as you went into your shared closet to pull out a fresh change of clothes.

“We have to understand exactly how painful tasing is for criminals so that we know to use it as a last resort, it’s not really a bad thing. It’s definitely not as painful as a gunshot or being stabbed, but it sure as hell stings like a bitch. And pepper spray is the worst: it burns the shit out of your eyes and face, _then_ we needed to go through an obstacle course _right after_ we were pepper sprayed in order to pass.”

You walked out of the closet as you buttoned up your new blouse, and you couldn’t help the grin that stretched across your lips when you saw Ryou's face: he seemed conflicted and horror stricken.

"...while I can get behind that reasoning, there has to be some kind of law against that."

You laughed a little.

"I would much rather get tased than shot, though the pepper spray was annoying," you said as you re-applied your mascara. "Pepper spray makes your whole fucking face burn and makes it really hard to breathe sometimes, but it was a good thing to know. Some folks especially needed to know what it was like, it kinda helps sort out the bad eggs from the good ones, you know?"

Ryou let out an impressed whistle.

"And here I thought _my_ profession was bad. You are so much stronger and braver than me."

You laughed while adjusting your fresh pair of trousers.

"There were a lot of agents and agents-in-training who cried throughout the whole thing, you could practically see the little light of hope fade from their eyes."

Ryou grinned.

"You're so mean, I hope you didn't laugh at them!"

You rolled your eyes.

"I was kinda busy trying to get the hellfire out of my eyes to give a shit about newcomers. Anyway, I'm heading off now."

Ryou followed you to the front door, unlocking it and holding it open for you as you slipped your work shoes back on.

"Stay safe out there, alright? Let me know what happens."

"I will," you replied, always genuinely touched by his concern for you. You leaned up to kiss him, smiling brightly when you pulled back- though it made your heart sink to have to leave him after just getting home. "I love you."

"I love you too," Ryou said, watching as you hurried out to your car and texted your team that you were on your way back before he closed the apartment door.  

 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

The drive to work wasn’t as painful as it usually was, though that was mostly due to the little amount of traffic at such an ungodly hour. You were still exhausted as hell and less than pleased about being away from your work building for an hour- but this is what you agreed to when you joined the NPA. You parked your car and dragged yourself to the building, greeted with the nearly blinding lights of the interior. You mumbled an incoherent ‘morning’ to the officer at the front desk whose name you couldn’t remember for the life of you and slinked your way to the meeting room where your team normally met up.

As soon as you opened the door you practically threw yourself into the first chair that you saw and all but slammed your face against the wood of the desk, releasing an inhuman-sounding groan. A short glance down the table made you notice the array of breakfast goods and coffees and teas available, but it was far too early for you to want to eat anything without feeling sick.

“Well, good mornin’ ta you too.”

You forced yourself to sit up and blinked at Jonouchi, who was munching away at some of the snacks that were available. You rubbed your hands over your face and placed your elbows on the table.

“It shouldn’t count as morning until the fucking sun is up.”

You heard Jonouchi snicker as well as the door opening.

“Hey guys,” Honda greeted, sounding equally as exhausted as you.

You hummed in response.

“Did Yugi call you?” You asked as you folded your hands on the table.

Honda nodded solemnly.

“Yeah, he was really worried.”

“He’s still here,” Jonouchi said. “Poor guy hasn’t left all day. I think he’s up in Daiki’s office talkin’ with the director too. Anzu’s been textin’ me, she’s been glued to his side to help support him. Daiki wants all of us to meet after they're done talkin'.”

You perked up a little at the mention of the head boss. Watanabe Kenta was the Commissioner General of the NPA and was mostly involved in politics, so it was a surprise to hear that such a busy man was involving himself in this case.

“It must be pretty serious then,” you said.

Just then, Ryuji burst through the door looking annoyed and tired. Like you, he threw himself into a chair, kicked his legs up onto the table, slumped himself against your shoulder, and began to doze off. Ryuji was often extremely grumpy when he hadn’t gotten any sleep, so everyone would walk on eggshells around him to avoid him snapping at them. Of course, Jonouchi would always be the one to have the balls to annoy him.

“Hey there, stranger! Haven’t you been wearing those clothes for the past couple of days?”

The daggers that Ryuji sent at Jonouchi through his glare sent a shiver down your spine before he pressed his face more against your shoulder.

“Kindly shut the fuck up. I’ve been awake for the past forty-two hours working on coming up with some bullshit encrypted stuff to try and tell Atem to get the fuck out of the yakuza.”

You patted Ryuji’s head before resting your cheek tiredly against him, beginning to nod off as well. You were startled by someone lightly tapping on your shoulder, the movement startling Ryuji awake and making him groan. You looked up and saw Anzu standing next to you, her hand held back in recoil and she softly said your name again,

“Daiki wants to see you, in his office.”

You almost vomited right then and there out of sheer nervousness; knowing that Watanabe would be there as well made you even more terrified. Ryuji threw himself off of your shoulder and draped himself over the table, Honda and Jonouchi watched you rather grimly as you followed Anzu. You felt like you were a death row inmate walking yourself to your punishment, walking silently on trembling legs while numbly accepting your fate. Anzu’s silence certainly wasn’t comforting and she only fixed her gaze straight ahead like a zombie. You had heard that Anzu once harbored romantic feelings for Atem in the past, knowing that the two were fairly close when they were in high school. You briefly wondered if that was the reason why she was especially involved with this situation, other than to comfort Yugi. You had never met the man yourself, and you were curious to see what he was like compared to his sweet younger brother. Your team had certainly told you stories about him and what he was like, but stories did little to sate your curiosity.

Before you knew it, you were in front of Daiki’s office door. Panic and sleep depravity had almost gotten the better of you and you considered bolting out of there and just returning to your apartment, but you wanted to find out what Daiki needed to talk to you about. Anzu gave your arm a reassuring squeeze, though that was meaningless considering both of your states of mind. You took a deep breath in through your nose and rasped your knuckles against the door.

“Come in,” came Daiki’s deep voice.

Your heart fluttered and your stomach clenched as you opened the door and peeked through the opening.

“You wanted to see me, sir?”

Daiki had been sitting behind his desk, though he looked disheveled as hell. The top couple of buttons on his dress shirt were undone, his tie hung loosely around his neck, his hair was mussed, and he had a five o’clock shadow growing. You wondered how long he had been here for and you suddenly felt guilty for complaining about the little amount of sleep you had gotten, you had at least managed to go home before coming back. You then noticed Yugi and your heart sunk- the usually cheerful young man looked as white as a bedsheet, his cheeks were stained with dried tears, and his eyes were swollen and bloodshot from all the crying he must have done. You didn’t have time to acknowledge him before Daiki looked over at you and nodded before saying your name.

“As you know, this is Commissioner General Watanabe Kenta.”

You barely nodded when the mentioned man turned in his chair to face you. He was certainly far older than you originally thought he would be, with the wrinkles on his face and the white in his hair you would have thought that he had retired already. His brown eyes were stern and were just as weathered as the rest of his face, but they still held a shine of mirth when they met yours. He nodded to you in acknowledgment and you quickly bowed, though you regretted the action when you straightened your already sore back. That was when you noticed another occupant in the room, though the angle you were at prevented you from seeing any other feature besides their blonde hair.

“What do you need to see me for?”

Watanabe nodded to an empty chair next to him.

“Take a seat and we’ll discuss.”

You quickly slid into the seat, the atmosphere felt tense when nobody said anything.

“Let’s cut to the chase,” Watanabe said quickly. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the murder of Saito Makoto.” You nodded and pressed your lips together, “Agent Saito had been undercover in a yakuza gang known as the Doma for four years until his passing."

You scrunched your face in confusion at the name.

"Doma? That's an unusual name for a yakuza syndicate, isn't it? I thought they were usually named after high-ranking family names?"

Watanabe chuckled a little at your comment.

"It is unusual, yes. This is a particularly new sanction and does not seem to be run exclusively by a family, but it is rapidly growing in members and we want to know why that is and what they are doing. The note that was found at the crime scene indicates that we have been compromised, we will be showing you the evidence when we meet with the rest of the team.” He released a tired sigh and slumped in his seat a little, “there’s no point in sugar-coating it. We need a way to smuggle our operatives safely out of the situation, which is where you come in.”

You took a moment to process what was being said to you. You blinked in surprise and confusion.

“...you want _me_ to go undercover and get the agents out of the yakuza?”

“Not you per se,” Daiki commented, then gestured to the other occupant in the room. “You will be going under with Kujaku Mai, she has agreed to help you get into the yakuza in exchange for our protection.”

The young woman turned her seat to look back at you. The woman was incredibly gorgeous: long flowing blonde hair that framed her porcelain heart-shaped face. Her amethyst eyes surveyed you in cool curiosity and a small smirk twitched at the edge of her full lips. Judging the length of her legs she must be taller than you, she was wearing knee-high combat boots, a pair of black shorts, a pale pink corset-like top, and a black vest- you tried your best to avoid looking at her cleavage for too long and nodded at her politely.

“You’ll also be getting a little more extra help, though it doesn’t seem like he’s here yet,” Watanabe muttered the last part to himself.

You quirked an eyebrow curiously but dismissed the comment for now until your ‘extra help’ arrived.

“So, what all should I know for this mission then?”

Mai huffed a little and folded her arms under her bust.

“This particular sanction is run by a man named Dartz. From what I know, Atem is under the name 'Yami' or something and is the best yakuza tattoo artist in all of Domino, so he’s pretty much the exclusive artist for the Doma. Saito was a member of the gang, but we all know what happened to him.” Mai then looked at Daiki, “Dartz is a very smart man and does not trust easily, he keeps very few people close to him.”

Watanbe nodded.

“That’s very useful information, thank you Miss Kujaku.”

Mai only flipped her hair over her shoulder in response. The door to the office suddenly opened, and when you turned to look who it was you were sure that your eyebrows were by your damn hairline and your jaw practically slammed into the floor. Daiki watched your reaction carefully before the other two saw the new intruder.

“Ah, Mr. Kaiba. Thank you for joining us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliff hanger!! Y'all know how much I love these, and TRUST me there will be a LOT more as the story progresses! ;)


	2. The Surprises Keep Coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize that this chapter took such a long time to post! I had a bit of a tough time coming up with ideas for where exactly I wanted this story to go, but hopefully this is worth the wait! I also highly advise re-reading the first half of the previous chapter, I have made some crucial changes that may confuse some people in this chapter. These changes were mostly inspired by user Eastern_Standard, so thank you for the inspiration!

Kaiba closed the door behind him and nodded at the director. He didn’t even give your dumbfounded face a glance as he approached the desk, though he paused and looked at Yugi and gave him a rather grim nod. He chose to stand next to Watanabe with his arms folded casually over his broad chest. It had been well over a year since you’d last seen or even spoken to this man, and now you would have to work with him again. _Great._

“Mr, Daiki, Mr. Watanabe. Any particular reason you pulled me out of my busy schedule, forcing me to put my company’s important work on pause?”

You momentarily forgot how cold Kaiba’s voice could be when he was addressing others in a more professional setting, though Daiki didn’t seem to mind.

“We need your help- rather, we need the help of you as wellas certain people you know.”

Kaiba nodded.

“I’m assuming you’re referring to the yakuza sanctions who all work under me?”

You weren’t surprised, it was common practice for yakuza gangs to make their way into rich and powerful companies- though in most cases the company would be indebted to the yakuza, not the other way around. Especially considering the power and the types of enemies Kaiba Corporation has, it shouldn’t have surprised you that Kaiba had these kinds of ties. Watanabe pulled out a picture from the manila envelope he had been carrying, revealing a rather handsome older man with long pale blue hair pulled back into a low ponytail. He had been wearing a lavender suit in the photo and appeared to be getting into a limo, though he had a relatively relaxed looking smile on his face. You were curious about his heterochromia, one of his eyes being golden and the other a rich teal color.

“Have you seen this man before, Mr. Kaiba?”

Kaiba leaned over the desk to take a proper look at the photograph.

“...no, I am unfamiliar with this sanction.”

Somehow this relieved you a little and you relaxed more into your seat as Kaiba stood up to his full height, though you shrunk a little when you briefly made eye-contact with him- the indifference you saw in his eyes made you nervous before he looked away from you.

“Why have you brought me here? I don’t think you pulled me out of my company just for me to tell you who I do and don’t know.”

Daiki looked over at Watanabe and nodded at him, the older gentleman stood from his chair and walked to stand in front of Kaiba to address him properly.

“One of our undercover agents, who has been in this particular organization for years, turned up dead this morning. We have an operative who has been undercover for two years,” he then paused and gave Kaiba a grim look, “it is my understanding that you and this agent, Atem Motou, were fairly close.”

Goddamn, how many people know this Atem guy?? 

Kaiba’s eyes widened briefly and you could have sworn on your life that you saw some form of horrified emotion sweep over his face. He shot a glance over at Yugi before he settled into his natural disposition.

“...you’re saying that he may be in danger?”

Watanabe nodded.

“As we had just explained to her,” he gestured over at you, “the agent Saito Makoto worked in the Doma for four years.” Watanabe turned back to the desk and grabbed the manila folder, pulling out a few photographs of the crime scene. “This is how we found him, but we’re having our coroner analyze the body as we speak.”

You leaned forward in your chair so you could see the photographs as well. It wasn’t the goriest scene you had ever seen: the photographs showed close-ups of both of Saito’s hands, both missing their fingers, but there didn’t seem to be anything indicating how he died in any of the photographs. His eyes were open still and you were thankful that the photographer hadn’t taken the photo so that you would have to stare directly into his blank eyes, but you couldn’t help but feel curious about what this man had been through.

“Are we going to be discussing these photographs with the team?”

You noticed that Mai didn’t seem all that interested in anything that was currently being discussed, only sitting idly in her seat and filing away at her nails when she wasn’t being spoken to. You gave her a side-eyed look before focusing back on Daiki.

“Of course,” Yugi finally spoke up, he seemed to be gaining some more color in his face. “While they aren’t going to be directly involved with this operation, they will still know some of the details of the plan and help create a good way to send you into the Doma.”

You glanced at Kaiba, nervous of what his reaction was going to be. Kaiba pressed his lips together tightly and his brows furrowed- that wasn’t a good sign.

“So I’m going to have to be working with _all_ of your team again?”

Daiki gave Kaiba an exaggerated look.

“While I’m not exactly thrilled about the idea either, yes.”

You inwardly snorted, you had nearly forgotten about how much Daiki disliked Kaiba from the last time you all worked together.

“...is there a particular reason why I’m with her instead of Yugi?”

You may have just been seeing things due to your lack of sleep, but you could have sworn that you saw Daiki’s lips twitch up into the faintest hint of a smirk- as soon as you blinked it was gone.

“Yes, in fact, there is,” Daiki said in an equally condescending tone as Kaiba. “We discovered that a couple of gang members have been previously interrogated by other members of my team back from the Amelda case, which I’m sure you remember fondly. We made sure that none of the team’s faces appeared in any media during that case, just to be prepared for situations like this. There is also the fact that the rest of my team have ties with Agent Atem, which could potentially compromise the mission should any of them choose to act on a vendetta they may have against the gang.” Daiki looked at you, “she is the only one who has never met Atem nor any other gang members and is therefore the best suited for this undercover mission.”

You felt yourself sit straighter in your chair as Daiki, once again, stood up for you against Kaiba. Mai let out a quiet snort at the scene playing out in front of her.

“Damn, your boss doesn’t take shit from anybody,” she murmured to you.

You grinned in response before a sudden question came to mind.

“What all did you know about Saito?”

Mai’s face settled back into a neutral look. She shifted back into her seat a little and faced you, resting her elbows on the arms of the chair and folding her arms so the rested under her breasts. She shrugged before she spoke, the rest of the room falling into silence as they listened to your conversation.

“There’s not a whole lot to tell. He was a pretty quiet guy and didn’t make it all that far into the Doma. He was a chimpira, the lowest of the low where newer and younger members are,” she let out a small chuckle, “Soichiro being an agent makes sense, now that I think about it.”

“How do you mean?” Daiki asked, now growing concerned.

Mai shrugged.

“He wasn’t all that willing to do any dirty work for Dartz, didn’t seem to have any balls to get his hands dirty. He was always real nervous and got rattled easy.”

“Does Dartz seem like the kind of man to have people killed on his orders or behalf?” 

Mai quirked an eyebrow.

“Can’t really say. I haven’t known him to give those kinds of orders, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.”

The room fell into silence, the weight of the mission you were given suddenly hung heavily around you. You felt your face grow a little heated, _very_ aware of the tension between you and Kaiba. You honestly barely thought about him now that you were with Ryou, though his younger brother Mokuba often texted and became close friends with you. Kaiba released a very heavy sigh.

“Alright, what exactly is my role in all of this?” he asked gruffly.

Daiki seemed a little glad that Kaiba would be cooperating, his posture relaxed a little.

“We’ll mostly be relying on her,” Daiki nodded in your direction, “and Miss Kujaku to get her into the Doma. We’ll need you to keep an eye on things, mostly to make sure that she and Atem are able to get out safely.”

Kaiba hummed.

“I will not be expected to go undercover then?”

Mai snorted loudly enough for the whole room to hear.

“Like _you_ could stand any kind of chance going undercover, Mister My-Face-Is-Plastered-On-Buildings-Year-Round!”

Kaiba frowned at the blonde woman but said nothing in response. You had honestly expected Kaiba to play a larger role than that, but you were mostly relieved that you wouldn’t have to be working _directly_ with him. 

“Exactly how large is this gang? How many members do you know about?” 

“Like your boss-man said, members in this gang are growing.” Mai replied. “Hell, even as we’ve been talking I’m sure that we got some new people. Last I checked, we had about twenty people.”

You nodded.

“And what sorts of people does Dartz go after?”

Mai snorted once again, quieter this time, and a small smile graced her lips.

“All walks of life, but he mostly goes after people who come from shitty situations. Anything from abused folks, drug users, orphans, homeless folks, kids who were disowned, you name it. He finds some kind of weakness and preys on it.”

“Well, then the fact that the Doma is getting a large following makes sense,” you said. “People who join the sanction must see him as some kind of saint.”

Mai’s eyes flickered over to you.

“Yeah, but not me. I’ve been in that gang for too long and want out.”

You nodded, admiring the woman’s resolve.

“So, what now? Are we gonna go down to the team?”

Daiki nodded.

“We’ll discuss the plan at length with the others, they’ll be able to pitch in any ideas and develop a solid plan,” he said as he and Watanabe stood from their seats, you and Mai followed suit.

You approached Yugi as the people in the room left, offering him a gentle smile.

“Hey, how’re you holding up?”

Yugi barely gave you a shadow of a smile in return. You saw there was some color coming back into his face, which was definitely a good sign.

“I think I’m okay now, I’m feeling a lot more confident about this mission now.”

You smiled as the two of you began to walk out of the office and back towards the meeting room your team was waiting in.

“That’s good.”

Yugi nodded, though he let out a little sigh.

“The whole time Atem has been undercover I haven’t had the chance to talk to him. I’m always worried that something must have gone wrong or that he got killed or something, but Daiki has always been there to reassure me that he was fine.” 

You grinned and nodded, but Yugi’s face grew more serious. 

“I’m loyal to Daiki and I’m willing to do anything he tells me to, but after hearing everything Mai told us about Dartz, what if Atem changed sides??”

That was certainly a good thing to consider, and something that could make the mission all the more dangerous. You didn’t know who this Atem guy is, what if he _did_ change loyalties? 

You jumped a little when you saw someone place a hand on Yugi’s shoulder, shocked to discover it was Kaiba.

“I wouldn’t worry about that. If he’s _your_ brother, then he would know to be loyal to you and to your team.”

You had never known Kaiba to be reassuring, but it was weirdly comforting. Tears began to collect in Yugi’s eyes and he gave Kaiba an appreciative smile.

“...thank you, Kaiba.”

Kaiba patted Yugi’s shoulder and gave him a small smile, but he made eye-contact with you before he turned and made his way down the hall. You huffed a little before you and Yugi began to walk again.

“Soooo, I knew you had a brother, but you’ve never told me anything about him. What’s he like?” You asked, mostly out of genuine curiosity but also to see what kind of person you would be meeting and working with. 

Yugi smiled to himself.

“Oh, he’s great, pretty much the exact opposite of me actually! He’s really outgoing, brave, and smart. I’ve been told that we look a lot alike, but I don’t really see it.”

Your heart warmed a little to hear Yugi gush so much about his older brother.

“Atem, that’s a bit of an odd name isn’t it?”

Yugi laughed a little, you inwardly patted yourself on the back for getting Yugi to relax a little more after hearing that he spent the whole night panicking.

“Yeah, it is. Our dad is Egyptian and named him after a pharaoh or something. Our mom is Japanese, so I got the short end of the naming stick.”

You laughed at Yugi’s little joke.

“Well, Atem sounds like a great person.”

Yugi smiled, looking away from you to stare at the ground ahead of him.

“Yeah, he is.”

Comfortable silence fell over the two of you on your way back to the meeting room. Upon entering first thing you noticed was Jonouchi gawking at Mai when she wasn’t looking at him with Honda elbowing him, the second was how the snacks that had been there when you arrived had dwindled down to half it’s original size- more than likely Jonouchi’s doing. Ryuji was still dozing off-and-on again but seemed more awake now that there were more people in the room. Anzu waved the two of you over to the two chairs next to her, though one of them was next to Kaiba. 

You inwardly groaned, but begrudgingly took your seat next in between Yugi and Kaiba and crossed your arms as you waited for Daiki and Watanabe to finish discussing amongst themselves at the head of the table. You still felt tension between yourself and Kaiba, but that may have just been in your mind since he didn’t really seem too bothered by your presence next to him- though that could have been because all of his attention was on his phone, catching up on the things he was missing at work no doubt. You then remembered to pull out your own phone to see if you had any missed messages and grinned to yourself when you noticed you got a text from Ryou.

_From: Bakura Ryou_

_I was able to make it to work safely! I’m sure you’re busy with that yakuza meeting, so I just wanted to say a quick I love you! <3 _

You smiled to yourself at Ryou’s sweet gesture.

_You:_

_Glad that you made it to work safe, I did too! Sorry for texting you back so much later, I got stuck in a meeting. We’re about to start another one. I love you too <3 _

You could have sworn that you felt eyes on you but glancing up you only saw that Kaiba was still focusing on his phone and Yugi was chatting idly with Anzu. You slipped your phone back into your pocket, writing it off as just nerves from lack of sleep, when you noticed Daiki facing the team with Watanabe standing next to him.

“Alright, let’s get this meeting started.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, let me know whatcha think! I would love to get some more ideas for this story and hear your guys' thought on this chapter!


	3. Whatever It Takes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shows up two months late with an update and Starbucks*
> 
> Remember when I used to update my works weekly? HA! Those were the days.
> 
> But in all seriousness I do apologize for my lack of posting, I would much rather take a long time and post a chapter that I'm happy with rather than just post crap because of deadlines I set up for myself. I also changed the Orichalcos to the Doma just because it's much easier to spell consistently correct. Now that I have a pretty good sense of direction for where I want this story to go, I will be sure to post monthly updates. I also am having help from the wonderful Eastern_Standard!
> 
> Some warnings for this chapter: gruesome details of a crime scene, mentions of murder, mentions of dead bodies

Everyone sat around the meeting table, all exhausted but ready to get to work- though Kaiba only sat next to you and was on his phone, which he would probably continue to do until he was mentioned or something piqued his interest. Ryuji was prepared and pressed a button on his phone that lowered a screen to reveal the rather graphic crime scene of Saito. All of you paled, no doubt sharing the same terrified thought of this happening to Atem.

“Agent Saito Makoto was found dead at 02:35 this morning, I’m sure you all got the call from Yugi right around then as he was on site at the crime scene,” Daiki said. The team nodded solemnly. “Saito had been under cover working as a member of the Doma yakuza gang for four years before his passing. Our coroner Ishizu Ishtar believes he was killed at approximately 01:15 this morning. Right now, the cause of death has not been identified- but Ishizu will let me know when she has a proper answer.”

You nodded. You had worked with Ishizu before, a foreign woman who was extremely knowledgeable in her field and incredibly intelligent albeit a little strange and mysterious. You didn’t really know a whole lot about her, and she never really spoke about herself, her family, or anything about her past with you and Anzu any time the three of you went out to go get drinks. You found her behavior a little odd, but it wasn’t enough to be off-putting and you didn’t want to pry into her life if she didn’t want to share anything with you.

Now that the images of the crime scene were blown, you scanned the grizzly photos with more ease and attention to detail, though some of the images were new to you. Saito laid with his arms tied behind his back and his whole body tied together, it looked like he was found in an alleyway by some dumpsters. His eyes were wide and his mouth was left hanging open as though he had been caught mid-scream in his death – the thought was chilling to say the least. Out of the corner of your eye you noticed that Kaiba had lowered his phone a little, looking at the gruesome photos.

“This doesn’t look like any kind of yakuza murder that I have ever seen.”

That very sentence made heads whip to the young millionaire, all of them staring with expressions of horror or surprise. A thousand thoughts and questions raced through your mind: why had he not mentioned this earlier, was he just being dramatic? Could he have seen a yakuza murder scene before? And knowing his yakuza ties, would it really be surprising that he _could_ have had someone killed? You hoped that he wouldn’t, knowing the type of person he is- but you had only recently discovered his ties to yakuza gangs, so how well did you know him _really_? 

You observed Kaiba as though he were a stranger to you, and when his eyes met your own you couldn’t help but notice how much colder they seemed to look.

Daiki seemed surprised and curious about Kaiba’s comment though.

“What do you mean by that?”

Kaiba folded his arms, his long index finger tapping impatiently at the opposite bicep.

“As we’ve already established, the yakuza rarely give second chances to members who had already broken whatever laws that are placed in that gang, so having all ten of his fingers removed is incredibly uncommon. Secondly, the cause of death has not been officially named. In most cases victims would either be shot, drowned, or strangled; all of which would be easily identifiable.”

Daiki and Watanabe exchanged surprised looks, both men looking impressed by Kaiba’s knowledge. You quickly grabbed one of the notebooks and pens on the table and began to scribble notes, ignoring Kaiba’s small snort at your diligence. 

“I’m assuming that the fingers weren’t found at the sight, were they?” Honda said.

Daiki nodded, affirming his suspicion.

“Does this sound more like a cult to anyone else?” Jonouchi asked, sounding a bit flabbergasted. “And especially after what Kaiba said, are we really sure that the Doma is a yakuza gang?”

You and your team looked at one another at Jonouchi’s thought.

“Oh, it’s more like a cult all right,” Mai said, reaching into her bosom and pulling out a small gem-like necklace. “Dartz gives all of these to his initiates.”

Ryuji then pressed another button on his phone, this time photos of Dartz and a couple close-ups of a necklace popped up on the screen. Dartz was wearing the same necklace, as indicated by the red circle around it.

“Hmmm,” Anzu hummed, narrowing her gaze at the photos. “I don’t see Saito wearing that kind of necklace. Are there different levels or something in this sanction?”

Mai shrugged.

“I’ve no idea. As soon as I joined I was given that necklace, but I know that not everyone got it.”

“Wasn’t there a note or something found with Saito’s body?” You asked. “What did it say?”

Ryuji had been dozing back off a little, seeing as he wasn’t needed right away. Anzu kicked at him from under the table, startling him awake.

“Huh-what?”

“Do you have a photo of the note from the crime scene?” Anzu said urgently.

Ryuji quickly scrambled for his phone and pressed another button, the crime scene photos minimized and another window popped up. It was a small square with a symbol of an eye drawn in a black ink. You frowned, you honestly had been expecting something more than that.

“What does that eye mean?” Yugi asked, narrowing his eyes in thought

“Beats the hell out of me,” Mai said. “I saw that symbol everywhere, but I never really needed to know about it.”

“Miss Kujaku,” Daiki said. “Are you able to tell us what Dartz’s interrogation methods are like, if he has any?”

Mai pressed her full lips together into a thin line, debating whether or not she should tell your team what she knew.

“...I can’t really say-“

“Miss Kujaku,” Watanabe had suddenly barked, making her jump a little. “You came to us for a reason. If we are to work together and bring down this Doma gang, then we need to develop a relationship built on trust- and building that trust goes both ways. Trust us to get the man responsible for this locked up, and we’ll trust you to give us honest and vital information we need.”

Mai’s eyes widened in slight shock, you could tell that no one has spoken to her in such a manner before. She recovered quickly though and sighed, running a hand through her hair.

“...I meant that I _literally_ can’t say. Dartz rarely gives out direct orders to any of his cohorts, he usually has them act as vigilantes under the Doma rather than act under his own name. His main man is Rafael, this big-ass blonde guy who doesn’t really like me very much.” Her violet eyes flicked over to Jonouchi and Honda, “I think your boss said that the two of you interviewed him and Valon, right?”

The two nodded. Ryuji pressed his phone and a couple more photos popped up, this time of two men. One of the men had light blonde hair styled into spikes, his stoic blue eyes didn’t look directly at the camera. He looked big, highly defined muscles were hidden beneath a leather jacket and he wore a black turtle neck that made the necklace he seemed to wear as a choker stand out more. The other man was smaller, though he was still significantly muscular from the way you could see them with the red leather tank top he wore beneath black leather and spiked shoulder pads. His brown hair was styled up and was extremely wild, and his bright blue eyes seemed to have a mischievous twinkle in them.

“And what were they like?” Daiki asked.

The young men had grown quiet as they thought.

“Well, Rafael was just this huge fucking guy. Looked like he was a brick shithouse!”

Honda nodded in agreement.

“Valon was a little smaller, and they both seem to be really into their motorbike work. Rafael wasn’t super talkative, so we mostly asked Valon questions. He seemed much more outgoing of the two.”

“Now, Miss Kujaku,” Watanabe said, “what are these men like in the gang?”

Mai pressed her lips together as she thought back.

“Well, Honda is right. Rafael never really talks to me, I don’t think he likes me very much. But he’s super quiet and doesn’t trust easily, he’s always acting like I was gonna try and attack him at any moment and he was waiting for me to pounce. He is Dartz’s right-hand man and is very loyal to him. Valon, on the other hand,” Mai was suddenly exasperated and visibly cringed, “he was the one who got me int the Doma and has a huge crush on me. He really is an annoying little shit, but he does whatever Dartz tells him to. Dartz mostly uses him to send messages and to beat up anybody who disagrees with Dartz, Dartz never really gets his own hands dirty, and usually sends out one of these two to do his work.” She then looked at you, “Amelda was also part of the Doma, and before he went psycho Amelda, Valon, and Rafael were all the top three most trusted members of the Doma.”

You all glanced at each other, this was certainly new information. Why hadn’t she mentioned this to you earlier, when Daiki mentioned him?

“If he was part of the gang, why didn’t he just do what he did in the name of the Doma?” Anzu asked.

Mai leaned back into her chair.

“Dartz didn’t want the bombing of such a major corporation and well-known figure among the yakuza to be affiliated with the Doma, he didn’t want to risk being tied to the Kaiba Corporation either. So he kicked Amelda out until he got his shit together,” she flexed her wrists and vaguely gestured, “obviously, that didn’t happen.”

Jonouchi suddenly jumped up in his chair.

“They were wearin’ necklaces, like Mai’s! I remember thinkin’ that they were a little weird lookin’!”

“Maybe there are two different levels of this group: one as part of a regular yakuza, and a deeper inner-circle that acts as a cult,” Yugi offered.

Your team nodded. Since nobody knew a whole lot about this Doma gang, all you could do was guess and give speculation until you were sent undercover.

“And maybe that’s why Saito wasn’t wearing a necklace,” you suggested. “The ones who wear them are the ones who work directly under Dartz and follow his orders as these vigilantes, while those who don’t act as normal members of a yakuza group?”

Mai squirmed a little.

“Ugh, that’s why I wanna get out,” Mai said, sounding a little defeated. “If you don’t follow Dartz’s orders, you get punished bad.” She gripped at her hair in despair and sudden paranoia, “I don’t wanna end up like Saito.”

Jonouchi gently placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder, making her startle a little but she looked into his eyes. He gave her a sincere smile.

“Don’t you worry, we’re gonna take this group down.”

Mai smiled softly and patted the hand on her shoulder.

“Thanks, Jo.”

The blonde gave her a lopsided grin as a blush began to bloom on his face. Kaiba rolled his eyes at the interaction.

“Alright, so now that all _that’s_ out of the way what’s the plan for sending her undercover?” he asked as he tilted his head in your direction.

Your team members, besides Yugi, all exchanged confused glances as they looked from you to Daiki, who had been standing with his arms folded while he took in everything that was being said.

“Undercover?” Anzu asked.

Daiki nodded, taking in a deep breath before he explained the plan.

“Because Saito was compromised, we are afraid of something similar happening to Agent Atem. So, we are sending her to go undercover to retreat him.” Your team all glanced down the table to look at you, each with a varying degree of worry on their faces before they turned back to Daiki. “Although it is not our main goal, we will also do our best to try and take down the Doma, which is why Kaiba is also here,” he gestured to the CEO and everyone gave him a wary look. “Due to his ties with different yakuza clans, he is very familiar with taking any one gang down. The plan is once we safely get Atem out of there, we take down the Doma for the murder of Saito and bring him to justice.”

You had never heard Daiki speak in such a valiant way before, it aroused a feeling of pride for being trusted with saving Atem. You also felt a little more clear on Kaiba’s real purpose, briefly wondering if he had felt the same sort of way as Daiki just now. You heard him ‘humph’ from under his breath.

“I don’t care abut any sort of justice for the dead. All I care about is getting an old friend out of a dangerous situation.”

Heads snapped down towards Kaiba, shock and disbelief decorating your team’s faces with the exception of Yugi, Daiki, and Watanabe.

“What??? You actually care for people besides Mokuba and yourself???” Ryuji asked flabbergasted, now entirely awake.

Kaiba frowned at him. Daiki pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing the kind of commotion that was about to arise.

“What? Am I not allowed to have friendships?”

“That would mean that people would have to actually like you,” Honda deadpanned, making you snort quietly.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes at Honda; if looks could kill.

“To be fair, she liked him enough to have DATED him,” Anzu said as she gestured to you, making you and Kaiba blink owlishly at her.

“But TO BE FAIR she broke up with him,” Jonouchi added. “Ain’t you datin’ that doctor guy now?”

Mai let out a low whistle.

“That would explain why he didn’t want to work with you at first,” she commented.

A sudden thrum of shock and embarrassment overwhelmed you, and you felt your body heat up now that your private life was being infiltrated. You slammed your hands on the table, completely indignant and flustered that Jonouchi had the gall to bring up your romantic life in front of Kaiba- who you didn’t even want to look at right now.

“That has nothing to do with-“

“Enough!”

You were all startled by Watanabe’s sudden shout, all of you settling into silence. You squirmed a little when you felt the weight of Kaiba’s gaze on you and stared into your lap guiltily.

“One of your fellow Agents has been found dead and we are trying to prevent another from ending up just the same, we don’t need anyone to focus on their own selfish past or current emotions. We have far more important matters to focus on and discuss, and I would like to get started with this mission as soon as possible.”

A guilty flush covered the faces of your teammates. Kaiba coughed a little, clearly not used to being scolded so harshly- especially as an adult.

“So, why are you helpin’ us out again?” Jonouchi asked Kaiba, his voice a little more quiet and sincerely curious. “I know you and Atem were real close, but is that the only reason?”

Though you couldn’t see it, Kaiba had sent a brief glance at you from underneath is eyelashes before he shifted into a more comfortable position in his seat and stared at Jonouchi calmly.

“You have your reasons, and I have mine. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Jonouchi held up his hands in mock surrender as he readjusted into his seat. After a few beats of intensely awkward silence, you finally spoke up.

“What exactly is the plan? Is there a specific time schedule or something that I’ll need to follow?”

Daiki looked at Watanabe to respond, the older man gave a low hum before answering.

“There will not be a set schedule, this will take however long it takes for us to get Atem out of there and to bring justice to Saito. However, we would like to finish this as soon as possible in order to ensure that Atem has not been compromised as well. We are hoping to have Miss Kujaku here help give you advice relating to what the Doma look for in terms of recruitment and bring you up to speed with their expectations and prepare you for anything you could possibly see or experience in your time there.”

You nodded solemnly.

“Mr. Kaiba will be keeping an eye on you to make sure nothing happens to you while you are undercover,” Daiki said. “He will plant a small device on you that will record your interactions with the leader in order to find out which of the members murdered Saito, staying at the same hotels as you to ensure your safety and working with Ryuji to retrieve any viable recordings.”

You inwardly grimaced at the thought, knowing that any interactions that you may have with him will be innately awkward now that he knows you’re dating the doctor you flirted with in Kaiba’s presence back when you first worked together.

“Yaayyy, I’m sooo excited,” Ryuji said, sarcasm dripping heavily as he spoke.

“Hey, you’re one of the only members of this team I can tolerate,” Kaiba said. “Try not to push my buttons and we won’t have any problems.”

Ryuji perked humorously at the mention of being one of the more tolerable members of the team and sent you a knowing smirk. You glared at him before he shrugged and focused his attention back to Daiki.

“The rest of you will also be keeping an eye on things; whether that be going undercover in a more low-profile manner, you will be helping us when we actually set up the mission to rescue Atem and to relay any information she gives you.”

Your team nodded in understanding, all of them eager to help get their friend out of this dangerous situation.

“Currently Atem works as the primary tattoo artist for the Doma, though we are unsure of what else he does for the Doma gang since we had not been in contact with him for a few months,” Watanabe said.

You noticed Yugi grow visibly antsy and pale, remembering his worry of Atem switching loyalties. Now that you knew that he hadn’t contacted the NPA in months, you briefly wondered the same thing. You pushed that thought aside, realizing that you don’t know this man and that you have no right to judge him until you actually meet him.

“We are thinking that this mission could take place any time between a few weeks to maybe months, since every variable is constantly shifting,” Daiki said. “We don’t know what Dartz knows or if he’s expecting any action from us, so we need to be especially cautious during this whole ordeal.”

Your team members once again nodded.

“So long as we get Atem outta there and take down the Doma, we are willing to do whatever we can to make sure this mission runs smoothly!”

The rest of your team cheered, making you smile a little. Daiki nodded at them and looked over at Watanabe with a slight smirk. The older man nodded and shrugged.

“Alright then, you are all dismissed.”

You felt extremely nervous suddenly. This would be your first time going on an undercover mission where you would be playing such a significant role, but you were certain that when you train with Mai you’ll be much more confident. Your team members each gave you words of encouragement and hugs before they left the room to probably go catch some more sleep, and then you suddenly found yourself alone in the vacant office with Kaiba.

_Oh boy._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, please, PLEASE let me know what you think of the story so far. I LOVE hearing from you guys and would love any feedback y'all can give me! <3


	4. The Game Begins?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. I realize that this chapter is FAR later than I intended it being, and instead of giving a witty remark/meme about it I will be honest with you all and let you all in on what exactly has been going on in my life for the past couple of months.
> 
> May was a particularly crazy month: there were several graduations that my family (both immediate and extended) needed to prepare for, and there was a death of a close family member. The latter was especially taking more of my attention.
> 
> June was just spent preparing for a significantly large vacation my family had been planning on for about a year, we like to ensure that we are at least 5 steps ahead of whatever comes our way.
> 
> I will also mention that this story has been difficult for me to write simply because, to my understanding, there are a lot more politics involved with yakuza gangs. Thank you to EasternStandard for being kind enough to give me insight on everything as well as aiding me in coming with characterization. You have been tremendously helpful.
> 
> ALRIGHT, sadness and stress is done! I have had quite a lot of flying time on this trip as well as bus-riding, so I was able to come up with a solid plot and I definitely know where this story will be going. I apologize if I worried or upset anyone, I have every intention of continuing this story and have even come up with several other ideas for this series! On with the chapter!

You felt extremely awkward being alone in the meeting room with Kaiba. You avoided looking at him, so you didn’t know if he was staring at his phone or if he was staring at you. You made an effort in trying to escape the heavy air in the room and inched your way over to the door.

“Wait.”

You stopped your movements, as slow as they were, and turned to Kaiba to fully face him. The man sighed as he pocketed his phone and stood up. He seemed to be cautious of you since he stood a good distance away from you and stood in a casual way with a hand in his pocket. His body language made him look ...relaxed? You folded your arms to rest under your bust and looked at him curiously.

“Something you need, Mr. Kaiba?”

Maybe you were seeing things because you were so tired, but something about you referring to him by his last name made a look of sadness briefly flash in his lovely eyes, but it was gone the instant he blinked.

“...I know that I was difficult when we worked together before. But as I said back then, you have my respect and trust.”

You smiled as he re-stated what he had said to you after you and your team had caught Amelda, touched that he was reassuring you that he still trusted you.

“Thank you, Kaiba-”

His eyes suddenly became rather cold, his whole demeanor changing into something a little more hostile. He was back to his usual self, you supposed.

“But don’t think for a second that I’m doing this for you. I’m only helping because my friend is in potential danger.”

You frowned at the sudden change in his tone, placing your hands on your hips and standing your ground as you glared up at him.

“Don’t misunderstand my motivations, Kaiba. We want the same thing: to get Atem out of his situation safely. I’m aware of how important he is to the members of my team and ...to you, evidently. So, you can trust me to do my job and be true to my word.” You then narrowed your eyes at him suspiciously. “Speaking of your friend, just who is this Atem guy? He seems to be friends with my team, and if _you_ consider him to be a friend he must be a saint of a person.”

Kaiba’s expression changed to one of neutral gruffness.

“...I wouldn’t exactly say we’re _friends_ in the traditional aspect. We’re more of rivals who have mutual respect for one another.” He eyed you a little bit, “we have a similar relationship to the one that you and I have. Not exactly friendly, but cooperative enough to work together without spatting.”

You snorted.

“You don’t remember what happened the last time we worked together like this? You and I fought damn near constantly.”

Kaiba huffed.

“My own life being on the line is different from else’s life, especially when it’s someone I care about. I don’t care about whether I live or die, but if I can save a friend I’m going to do everything in my power.”

You paused for a moment to process his words. During the Amelda mission he certainly didn’t seem to care much that his own safety was at risk, but arguably you could say that he cared more about his company than of his own personal well-being (especially if dating him had told you anything). But when it came to Isono, Mokuba, and even you he seemed to have a change of opinion; thinking back to when you were at the hospital he was genuinely concerned about your health, even telling you that he was worried about you getting yourself killed one day. He had risked his own safety to go after you and Amelda, and you wondered what his motivations truly were. But, you supposed that was where you and Kaiba had your similarities. Though you wanted to do everything in your power to keep people safe no matter who they were, you were also incredibly dedicated to your own job and often put other’s well-being and life ahead of your own even when you had an incredibly high risk of injury or death – hence the scars on your body.

Coming back to the present you sighed through your nose.

“What, are you trying to present yourself as a martyr or something?”

Kaiba stared at you for a moment, then he chuckled to himself.

“Please, I very much intend on keeping myself alive. Unlike you, I’m not doing this to help others.”

You frowned.

“Yeah, you said that. What _are_ your motivations then, Mister Kaiba?”

After a moment, Kaiba grinned at you and placed a hand on his hip.

“You’re the brain expert, you tell me.”

Silence fell over the two of you for a moment, with you glaring up at him and him smirking down at you. Then Kaiba broke the stare down by letting out a huff of a laugh and stepped around you to leave the room.

“I’m looking forward to this little game, _agent_.”

You gaped at him as he left and sent you one last smirk over his shoulder as he closed the door behind him. You glared at the door, frustrated by the puzzle that he seemed to leave for you. What exactly had he meant by ‘game’? While this man presented himself as a mystery, you were very aware of how his mind works: the man viewed everything in his life as a game that he has to win. So he HAD to be referring to the ‘game’ between you and the Doma, right? Or could he mean something else entirely? In the last investigation he had made his motivations and intentions clear and easy to read, but now he seemed to be an enigma to you for some reason. It was almost like he was hiding something, could he have a secret connection to this Doma group that he just lied to you about?

You placed your hands over your face and yelled, your voice muffled by your palms as you finally released all of your pent up anger and frustration. You then collapsed into one of the empty chairs behind you, suddenly far more exhausted than when you had first gotten here. Kaiba suddenly seemed to be much more emotionally draining than you had remembered.

“Damn, the talk with him went that badly, huh?”

You nearly jumped out of your skin when you heard Honda’s voice, he laughed at your reaction as you grew flustered from being caught screaming. You slumped your shoulders a little as you stared at him.

“...what’s up?”

He leaned against the doorframe casually and slipped his hands into his pockets.

“Boss says Ishizu found something that could be of interest to this case.”

You perked up at the prospect.

“Why aren’t you going with Jo? He’s usually your partner, right?”

Honda sighed, disgust on his features and he cringed just thinking about it.

“Yeah, _usually_. But ever since that Mai chick came in he’s been making heart-eyes at her non-stop. If I’m stuck in a car alone with him I’m sure that he’ll just keep talking about her.”

You snorted, you never took Jonouchi as the type to fall head-over-heels for someone. 

“Alrighty, let’s get going then.”

 

The morgue wasn’t terribly far in the building, luckily it was only on the bottom level and the elevator was only a hop, skip, and a jump away. When the elevator signaled your arrival the two of you stepped out onto the pristinely white-tiled floor, although goosebumps pricked at your skin from how cold this place was. The room the two of you resided in was mostly vacant with only a few signs directing people where to go.

“Ugh, I hate coming down here,” Honda said as he looked around at all the stainless-steel cabinets and shelves uneasily. “This place always gives me the creeps.”

“Well, that makes one of us.”

Honda yelped at the sudden voice and you recognized it at once to be Ishizu’s. You turned to the woman, who had just been pulling off her blue latex gloves, and smiled at her.

“Hey Ishizu, long time no see!”

The woman looked at you for a moment as she adjusted her surgical mask and cap before she nodded at you in a greeting.

“Daiki sent the two of you down here, correct?” The both of you nodded. “Good, I have something to show you. Up to you whether it’s good or bad. Follow me.”

The light blue medical gown she wore swished around her almost like a cape. You and Honda both grabbed a pair of gloves as well as a surgical mask from a box that had been sitting on a nearby shelf as you followed the woman. You didn’t really know much about the morgue or about Ishizu’s job in general, but you briefly wondered just how many dead bodies were possibly stored in some of these shelves.

She had grabbed a clipboard that had been hanging up on the wall and flipped through a couple of papers as she continued to walk, going over the notes she had taken on Saito’s body.

“I hope neither of you are squeamish, Saito’s death was quite gruesome,” she said as she held the door open and gestured for the two of you to enter a room.

You and Honda glanced at one another, in the photos Daiki had shown you there hadn’t been anything terribly gruesome in his death. You exchanged nervous glances before you stepped inside of the room, which changed from the pristine white tile floor to linoleum. The smell of chemicals made your stomach churn, but not as much as the sight of the body hidden under a white sheet on a metal table in the center of the room. You had never known Saito very well, but you had seen him chatting with Daiki a handful of times. If they were friends, that would explain why Daiki was so determined to avenge Saito’s death.

“So, uh, what were you able to find Miss Ishtar?” Honda asked in an overly-formal manner due to his intimidation.

You saw the corner of Ishizu’s lips twitch into an amused grin briefly. Ishizu pulled out Saito’s hand from under the sheet, the sight making bile rise in the back of your throat. The joints where his fingers should have been were completely severed, barely looking like nubs

“Do you see how each of these wounds are different colors?” Ishizu asked casually. “This tells me that these fingers were severed at different times.” She gave you two a grim look, “I believe that Agent Saito was tortured over a fairly long period of time.”

You exchanged a nervous glance with Honda, both of you clearly disturbed by all of this.

“Do you think Rafael would be capable of doing this?” You asked, since he had interacted with the larger man before.

“It wouldn’t take much force or strength to be able to sever fingers,” Ishizu informed you. “It’s said that humans can bite a finger off as easily as biting into a carrot. Someone half of your size could easily cut off a finger with a butcher’s knife.””

You clenched your jaw a little, this certainly makes the mystery of whoever actually killed Saito a little more open ended.

“So anyone could have been able to kill him,” Honda said.

“Exactly,” Ishizu said as she replaced Saito’s arm under the sheet. “However, I also found evidence that suggests water-boarding used. I found water in his lungs. I could keep you two here and tell you everything I found about him, but Honda’s looking a little green,”

You looked over at your partner and noticed that he had been slowly edging towards a nearby trashcan.

“If you’re going to vomit, don’t do it in there,” Ishizu warned. “That’s the storage container I use for internal organs.”

Honda immediately stepped away.

“Oh fuck...”

He slapped a hand over his mouth, looking like he was about to puke but was holding it in.

“Bathroom’s just down that hall and on the left,” Ishizu explained, laughing a little as Honda all but dashed out of the room.

The two of you laughed when you heard a woman yell indistinctly and a door slam urgently shut.

“Poor Honda,” you muttered as you calmed yourself down.

“So, anyway,” Ishizu said after clearing her throat. “Saito also has broken wrists and ankles as well as bruising around the area.”

She lifted the bottom corner of the sheet and showed one of Saito’s ankles with bruising just as she had described.

“It looks like someone had restrained him,” you said.

“That’s what I’m thinking too.”

You leaned in closely to examine the injuries done to him.

“It looks like he struggled so hard against his restraints that he broke his wrists and ankles.”

Ishizu nodded.

“Saito is missing the toenails on each of his feet, probably because he didn’t have any fingers. And look at this,” she recovered the foot with the cloth and moved over to the shelf. She opened a drawer and pulled out a bag, then held it out for you to see.

You felt your stomach churn and you suddenly got a cold flash.

“...is that...”

“Mmm-hmm,” Ishizu affirmed. “his tongue had been cut out. While he was still alive, most likely.”

You felt a rush of bile hit the back of your throat, but you desperately swallowed it down and ignored the feeling.

“How had we not seen these in pictures?”

“Probably because this was a little tough to see,” she responded. “Whoever took these crime scene photos really needs to find other work.”

You nodded and pressed your lips together.

“My god,” you muttered. Someone tortured the absolute shit out of him. You took a breath to steady yourself before speaking again, “anything else?”

Ishizu shrugged.

“If I find anything else I’ll let you know.”

You nodded once again,

“Thanks for all your work.”

Ishizu only nodded curtly before you left. Honda had just left the bathroom as you made your way through the hallway, still looking a little green.

“Are you okay?” you asked with a bit of a laugh.

Honda frowned at you while you walked to the elevator.

“Very funny. What all did you find out about Saito?”

You pressed the elevator button. 

“If I told you, I’m sure you’d throw up again.”

Honda nodded.

“Fair enough.”

The two of you walked into the elevator, but you felt your stomach drop at the thought of what exactly you would all have to deal with. Seeing Saito’s corpse on the table really hit you with the weight of the very real danger that you are exposing yourself to. Granted you were volunteered to do this assignment, but your bosses believe that you are the best person for the job. 

Needless to say, you were determined not to let them down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a FUNNY THING. I have a cousin who is studying to be a forensic scientist, so I've been asking her a bunch of questions on dead bodies and stuff just to ensure that everything is as accurate as humanly possible.
> 
> Thanks for reading and feel free to leave comments, questions, and theories for me to read. I always have fun reading your guys' comments! :) <3


	5. Expidited

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello hello!
> 
> I'm loving this story! Not only in the sense that it is much more mature than the first story in this series, but as well as in the sense that I get to research and improve on the accuracy of my writing! I love researching, I want to ensure that my writing is as accurate as possible. 
> 
> Speaking of which, after doing a little more research I may need to go through this series and edit it a little more. I've recently discovered that:
> 
> -The NPA doesn’t actually go out into the field itself like what I’ve been writing, the Criminal Investigation department of the general police officers  
> -They are also supervised by a member of the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the National Police Agency, which may be what Daiki's position is  
> -The rest of the team could all just be detectives  
> -Atem would be a senior Police Officer, just a rank higher than the rest
> 
> Sorry that this was a little longer, and I would appreciate if someone could tell me if this new information is correct or not. I really want to make this work accurate with Japanese culture! ;A;
> 
> On with the chapter!  
> Warnings: mentions of past drug abuse, mentions of past sexual solicitation, high emotions, slight panic attack, character death

You felt relieved when you stepped out of the elevator, which had seemed especially stuffy while you and Honda rode it. Your nervous energy was still bubbling up within you as you thought about the impeding mission, but you were eager to just get this mission started as soon as possible. You strode up to your desk and saw Daiki, Mai, and a strange man you haven’t seen before. Curious, you leaned a little as you walked to get a better look at this stranger.

“There you are,” Daiki said, noticing you from the corner of his eye.

Mai and the new man both lifted their heads to look at you. This man looked like a foreigner, with darker skin and a white turban wrapped around his head. He wore strange cream-colored robes as well as a pair of brown pants. Golden triangles decorated his face, with three on his forehead and one on either of his cheeks, he had large golden hoops hanging from his ears, and wore an ankh necklace that hung near his sternum.

“This is Shin Shadi, an informant and old friend of mine,” Daiki explained. 

The man nodded politely to you, which you returned.

“He runs an orphanage in the city, so he will be able to help give information about the Doma.”

“Several members of the Doma were once children at my orphanage,” he said, sadness gracing his strangely soothing voice. “The fact that they chose to lead lives of harm to so many others truly pains my heart.”

You nodded sympathetically at him.

“I’m sorry, I can’t imagine what that must be like for you.”

Shadi gave you a small smile.

“Thank you. And with your help we may be able to prevent others under my care from following the same path.”

You smiled back at him. Daiki pulled out a manila folder from his brief case and opened it to spread out photos of who you assumed were members of the Doma based on the necklaces they wore.

“Were any of these people raised in our orphanage?”

Shadis’s teal eyes took their time taking in the separate photos. He took a couple of them in his hands to get a better look at them before he placed them in a separate pile away from the others.

“These two, Rafael and Valon.” He shifted the pictures so that they were next to each other and pointed at the photo with the large blonde man you recognized, “Rafael had been come from a wealthy family, but while on a cruise the ship they had all been on crashed during a terrible storm and took his family from him. He had been brought to me soon after the tragedy, too traumatized by it all to even speak. He barely ever said a word to me. And Valon,” genuine sadness once again overcame him as he pulled the picture of the smaller brunette a little closer to himself to see the image better, “what a broken soul. He came to us from Spain and was watched over by a nun, but a group of thugs trapped her in a church and set it on fire. He ended up killing the thugs and was sent to a juvenile detention center, then he was sent to me.” He looked up at you, still looking devastated, “I tried all I could to help him, to teach him to become a better person and to put his past behind him, but he would not listen and eventually left with Rafael.” 

He sighed as he looked back at the pictures and your heart broke for this man.

“Others who have fallen victim to the Doma’s trap have at least come to visit me once in a while, but I have not seen either of these two since they left my care.”

You reached over and pat his hand. When his gaze came to you, you gave him a reassuring smile.

“Once this mess is over, I’ll be sure to let them know you’re thinking of them.”

It took a moment, but Shadi smiled at you again with appreciation.

“Your kindness is very much appreciated, I will be sure to keep you in my prayers while you are on your mission.”

Your heart swelled at the words. While you weren’t terribly religious yourself, you were always touched when people told you that they would be thinking of you and praying to their deity for you. 

Mai finally spoke up by barking a laugh, then settled further into her seat with her hands casually behind her head and kicked her feet up onto the table.

“Well, just because they both had an unhappy childhood doesn’t give them the right to be assholes.” She gave a rather firm look to Shadi, who seemed unfazed, “some people just aren’t meant to change, shit’s just set in stone. There’s no point in holding faith in anyone.”

Shadi observed her for a moment, and before you could get a word in Shadi beat you to it.

“You are an orphan as well, are you not?”

You and Mai blinked at the man in confusion. Mai ‘humphed’ and settled back into her chair.

“Well, that is the common theme among the other members of the Doma- “

“You experienced many hardships in your life,” Shadi continued, almost sagely. “You grew up, essentially, on your own and are self-reliant.”

Mai sat up slowly and frowned.

“I don’t-“

“You dropped out of high school to make money for yourself working odd jobs while dreaming of making it big as an actress or a model. You worked at a casino as a card handler, a job that you hated because of the drunken men who always tried to convince you to have sex, but you shamelessly lured them into their bedrooms and stole their money while they slept.”

Mai placed an elbow on the table as she leaned towards Shadi with dangerously narrowed eyes. Your face paled as Shadi practically told her backstory.

“Okay, you need to stop-”

Shadi only continued, as though he were under some spell. 

“You only gave away your body once when you were just shy of turning eighteen. To the movie star Jean-Claude Magnum, after the two of you had done a line cocaine and he offered to give you a fortune in return. You were so desperate for the money and were broken enough that you accepted the offer. You then began to threaten him with showing the media photos of that night if he did not pay you; with his reputation and marriage on the line, he would have been a fool to say no to you. You eventually got so lost in drugs and money and sex that you hit your lowest point, puking in an alleyway after spending the last of your money on a bad batch of ecstasy. You found yourself in the lap of the Doma leader, who offered to give you anything you could ever need: a family, love, money, drugs, whatever you wanted, in exchange for your loyalty.” 

“Shut up,” Mai all but growled, beginning to visibly shake as she clenched her fist so hard her knuckles began to turn white.

Shadi tilted his head a bit as he continued to stare at Mai, creeping you out just a little. 

“But what is loyalty to you, Kujaku Mai? You had never gotten it, so why would you ever give it? Especially since you are willing to work with the National Police Agency to get yourself out of the Doma’s controls, what makes you think these agents would believe you? Especially given all that you have shamelessly done-“

“That’s enough!”

Mai suddenly stood up and slammed her hands on the table, startling the hell out of you. Shadi remained unfazed, Mai’s hair had fallen into her face as she glared hotly at the man, and Daiki was hiding a proud smile behind his fist. You were just confused and squinted suspiciously at Shadi. Who the hell is this man and how did he know so many specific details about Mai’s life?? 

“I want to escape the Doma because I’m _sick_ of being Dartz’s damn lap-dog! I’m tired of the control they have over me, the constant fear that I may lose my life to those psychos if I don’t comply with Dartz’s demands! I don’t care about everyone else, I don’t give a _damn_ about anyone else, _I_ just wanna get the hell out of there!”

She had started sobbing while she shouted, and the sight of seeing a woman so strong and independent suddenly break down made your heart bleed for her. Hesitantly, you reached a hand out and placed it very gently on her back. You were grateful that she didn’t flinch away, she only startled and whipped her head to you. Daiki leaned over the table, taking the handkerchief out of the breast pocket of his jacket and offering it out for Mai to take.

“We’re going to take this cult down,” you said gently. “With the help you’ll be giving us, I’m certain we can bring the Doma to their knees and make them pay for what they have done.”

Mai blinked away some of her tears, her mascara running down her porcelain face as she took Daiki’s handkerchief and blotted the tears away. She swallowed and nodded at your words.

“And now that you are no longer held by the weight of the secrets you have kept to yourself for so long, your soul can finally be free,” Shadi said wisely.

Mai let out a sardonic chuckle.

“What the hell are you, some kind of priest or something?”

Shadi shrugged.

“Just a humble monk.”

Both you and Mai chuckled.

“How did you know all that stuff about Mai?”

You heard Daiki snicker and looked over at your boss curiously.

“He used to work as an agent here before he left to start up his orphanage,” he explained. “He was our technical analyst and completed extensive background checks before we would create a profile.”

You let out a sigh of relief, this whole encounter had scared you a little and the amount of knowledge that he knew was concerning. Mai let out a bark of a laugh.

“Ahh, I didn’t expect you to know a whole lot about technology and shit! You really had me going for a minute!”

Shadi smiled at her before turning his attention to you his smile fading away rather quickly.

“You will be facing the Doma in an ongoing mission, yes?”

You paused a little before speaking.

“Uhh, yeah I will. It’ll be one of my first under-cover missions with the NPA.”

Shadi gave you a very serious look.

“Be careful on this mission of yours, agent. You will be faced with many dangers and will have your loyalties tested while on this path, whether they are fake or true. It would be wise if you tread lightly and know who to trust.”

You felt your face drain all of its color. The fears that Yugi shared with you about his brother trading sides came flooding back into your mind and hit you with full force, making your heart skip a beat and your stomach clench. Daiki laughed.

“Alright, now you’re just sounding like one of those cheesy fortune cookies. Get back to those orphans, senile fool,” he said teasingly.

Shadi nodded and stood up to take his leave, staring at you and silently urging you to take his warning seriously before he walked out of the building. You watched him nervously and made sure that he left, a shudder prickling its way down your spine.

“Ugh, man. That guy _really_ gives me the creeps,” Mai said offhandedly as she kicked her legs back up onto the table and leaned back in her chair.

“He’s a bit of a nutjob, but he’s good at what he does,” Daiki remarked. “Speaking of which, I want the two of you to begin training on being a member of the Doma,” he fished out another folder and handed it to you. “This is the identity Watanabe and I came up with for your mission. Miss Kujaku will help ease you into the role and prepare you for any questions and initiations you may be faced with.”

You opened the folder and began to read the name of your alias aloud, though not without laughing a little.

“Who the hell came up with this name?” You said with a laugh.

“Watanabe,” Daiki admitted. “With how bad he is at choosing names, it’s a good thing he doesn’t have children.”

You laughed heartily before you continued to read over your alias and the backstory, Mai sitting next to you and reading over your shoulder.

“Yeah, with a backstory like that you’ll fit right in no problem.”

“Who came up with the back story then?” you asked. “I know for a fact that neither of you are creative enough for this.”

Daiki frowned at you, pretending to be hurt.

“Yeah, Shadi helped us out there.”

“Ah,” you said before you continued to read through the packet. “Are they really going to be asking for this many details about my life?”

“They sure are, kid,” Mai said. “Dartz is very extensive when it comes to the backgrounds of his members, he doesn’t just pick up any rando off the street and have them join his gang. You think that a majority of his gang just happens to be orphans?”

You pressed your lips together and nodded, getting a better understanding of what this Dartz character was like.

“So, he specifically targets orphans?”

Mai shrugged vaguely.

“The few people that I know are orphans, can’t guarantee that _everyone_ is though. He specifically targets people who grew up being completely unwanted and unloved; so when he offers them whatever they want they take the deal and become extremely loyal to him since he more or less got them out of whatever shitty living situation they were in.”

She looked away from you and looked sadder as she said that last sentence. You narrowed your eyes.

“...is there a way that he can tell who has had backgrounds like that?”

Mai snorted at you.

“Trust me. There are places that he specifically targets whenever he’s recruiting for new members, and trust me when I say that it’s easy to tell when people are at their absolutely lowest point.”

You laced your fingers together and pressed them to your lips in thought.

“And is it _always_ Dartz who goes out and recruits people?” Daiki had asked.

Mai shook her head.

“Not always. A couple of weeks ago Rafael and Varon brought in a couple of kids to the gang.” She scrunched her nose in apparent disgust when she thought of the two, “just a couple of really weird kids, they’re the only ones who didn’t seem to have a super tragic back-story or anything. They just wanted to join the Doma because they wanted to be with a powerful gang. But, Dartz never turns people who come to him when it’s usually him going to other people. So, he let those weirdos in.”

You nodded.

“There’s no way that he’d be able to tell someone’s life with a simple glance,” Daiki said. “How does he get this information?”

Mai pursed her lips together in thought.

“Well, before you took him out Amelda used to be the one who’d do extensive background checks on people. He was able to make this really weird program that kept track of every orphan in Domino. It would tell their life stories, any sort of criminal charges they may have had, shit like that.”

You and Daiki immediately glanced at each other, exchanging worried looks.

“That sounds an awful like the database _we_ have,” Daiki said.

Your face paled again as you nodded. When Amelda was mentally sound, he must have been a hell of a computer genius.

“Has anyone tried to leave the Doma?”

Mai stared at you blankly.

“Nobody has ever wanted to leave, not that I know of anyway. I haven’t really met a whole lot of them. The only person I can think of who left was Amelda, and that was only because he was becoming more of a psycho and Dartz wanted nothing to do with his shit.”

“Tell me about Dartz’s personality,” Daiki suggested. “If this really is a cult, then Dartz may be more dangerous than we had thought.”

Before Mai could even think of a response, you heard the sound of someone very briskly entering the room.

“Oh, look who’s back,” Mai mumbled to herself.

You whipped around to see Kaiba quickly striding towards the three of you, gripping his laptop so tightly in his angry grip that you were surprised that he didn’t break it.

“Guess who has apparently _bought_ forty-nine percent of _my_ fucking company??”

Nobody was able to even blink or take a breath before Kaiba shoved his laptop into their faces. Your jaw dropped to the floor when an article with an image of none other than Dartz in a pristine lavender suit showed up, smirking at the camera triumphantly.

“How in the _fuck_ did he manage to do that??” you asked.

You had never seen Kaiba so angry.

“It seems that a majority of my shareholders are absolute fucking cowards who were intimidated by Dartz’s yakuza influence. I’ll make sure to damage so much of their lives that they can never show their faces in Japan again.”

The rest of your team had hurriedly made their way back to your desk, they had all of their gear on them and looked very unnerved.

“Guys? What’s wrong?” you asked in concern.

Daiki’s phone had gone off and he fished it from his pocket.

“Daiki.”

He stood up and walked a few paces away from your desk.

“There’s been another murder,” Anzu said.

Your eyebrows shot up.

“...do we know if it was another agent?”

Jonouchi shrugged.

“We don’t know yet, they haven’t gotten anyone to identify the body as far as we know,” Ryuji quickly explained.

You all turned to Daiki when he dropped himself into your desk chair, running a hand over his face.

“Who was that?” Yugi asked hesitantly.

“...that was Ishizu, she’s already at the scene of the crime,” he said quietly. “She was able to identify the body as Shin Shadi, apparently she and her two brothers were under his care back when he lived in Egypt. He’s the reason she’s even here.”

"Shadi? Who's that?"

Daiki sighed heavily.

"He used to be an agent."

A sharp wave of pins and needles shot down your spin and you felt your teeth buzz. He was just in here not even twenty minutes ago, who the hell would kill him in such a short amount of time??

Kaiba narrowed his eyes.

“That guy was just in here, right? With this news coming out and the murder of Shadi, that can’t all be a coincidence.”

You sat in stunned silence for a moment, shocked by the quickness of the apparent murder.

“Jeez, now I feel bad for saying he gave me the creeps,” Mai said solemnly.

Your team exchanged worried glances. Knowing that Daiki was close friends with Shadi, you were all really worried for him.

“...what do you want us to do, boss?”

Daiki removed his hand from his face, looking like he had aged another ten years. His eyes had glazed over with some tears and he cleared his throat before speaking.

“I want Jo and Honda to visit the crime scene, tell us any information the coroners give you. I’m not entirely sure if Ishizu will even be working this crime scene, given her closeness to hi- ...the victim. Ryuji and Yugi, I want you to go over the footage from the cameras outside the building and see if they caught anything that happened. Anzu, you and I will be interviewing any witnesses to the murder” He blinked tears away and they were gone in an instant, his steel eyes trained on you with upmost seriousness, “this only means that we’ll have to get you into the Doma sooner than we anticipated. We were going to shoot for a couple of weeks, but at this rate who knows what else might happen. I’m afraid that they might be monitoring us, so we’ll have to send you in within the next couple of days.”

Everyone looked over at you warily. You felt panic begin to bubble in your chest- there was _no_ way you would be able to go into the Doma so soon and so underprepared, right? You startled slightly when Daiki reached over and placed a hand on your shoulder.

“I know this must be scary for you. If it were up to me, I would still wait a couple of weeks. But we don’t have a whole lot of time left to ensure Atem’s safety.”

Your heart pounded in your chest and the rest of the noise around you faded out of focus. Just how prepared was the Doma? What if they knew that you were coming? What if Atem was some kind of double-agent? What would happen with Kaiba and his company now that almost half of it was owned by Dartz now? You felt Mai reach out and pat your knee, but you didn’t really register it; that was, until you heard Kaiba say your name and grip your shoulders, entirely consuming your field of vision as all you could do was focus on him.

“Listen to me. We aren’t going to let Dartz and his Doma get away with everything they’ve done, and he’d be stupid if he thinks he can do anything to you or Atem on my watch,” he thumbed tears away from the corners of your eyes, albeit a little roughly without meaning to be. “You’ve got all of these people here who’ve got your back, and I know you’ll be successful on this mission.”

You sat in stunned silence, touched by his sudden and rather intimate gesture and it made butterflies flutter in your stomach. Even the rest of your teammates were shocked into silence and didn’t say anything sarcastic. You smiled at the man in front of you.

“Thank you, Seto. That’s really reassuring.”

A could have sworn you saw the faintest pink rise in his cheeks at the use of his first name and his lips twitched up into the briefest smile before he stood up to his full height.

“Well, you’ve all got your assignments. If you need me, I’ve got some lives to ruin.”

You laughed a little as he turned and stalked out of the room. Your teammates gave you a reassuring pat or squeeze as they passed you, leaving you and Mai sitting at your desk. 

The blonde had been giving you a sly grin.

“What?”

She shrugged haphazardly.

“Nothing, it’s nothing. Anyway, I guess I should tell you some more about what Dartz expects, so let’s go somewhere a little more closed off and talk about it.”

You nodded, though when Mai stood up she poked your cheek.

“You’re blushing.”

Confused you quickly felt your face with your hands, feeling that your face was indeed warm. Mai’s eyes glimmered knowingly as she sashayed away. You chewed at your lower lip, knowing full well why you were blushing. Your phone buzzed in your pocket and your hand immediately dove to retrieve it, noticing it was a text from Ryou.

_From: Bakura Ryou_

_Hello love! I won’t be able to come home tonight, there has recently been a huge car accident and I’m afraid that it’s an “all hands on deck” situation. Just wanted to let you know now so you don’t worry later. And take your time responding, I understand you’re at work. I love you! <3_

You frowned a little at not having anyone to come home to tonight, but you figured it would be for the best since you still had no idea how you were going to tell him about your upcoming mission. You sighed and pocketed your phone, then stood up and followed Mai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did leave Reader's undercover name and backstory up to the reader to come up with, just so that it would be a little more reader-immersive. Tell me what you think of it!
> 
> Please tell me if there are any errors you may have noticed or if you think the characters are not in-character, I certainly don't mind those types of comments and am more than happy to edit. Feel free to leave a comment as well, I really love reading predictions for the story as well as suggestions - I take all of these to heart!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your mission officially begins, but it doesn't go according to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I STRUGGLED with this chapter. Not even because of the content alone, it was mostly because my life is now hectic. I work a full-time job now (confetti) and am trying to figure out what all I need to do to get back into school. I live with a bunch of writers in my new-ish apartment, so now I should be able to upload chapters regularly now! :)

“Alright, I sent a message to Valon. They should be here in a few minutes.”

You nodded and fiddled with the end of your top as you waited next to Mai, completely afraid of the fact that your mission had, essentially, started right away. Mai was as cool as a cucumber, staring straight ahead with her poker face that wouldn’t be so easily broken; though she noticed your nervous tick and smacked your hand away from your clothes.

“Quit doing that,” she hissed. “If Dartz sees that you’re nervous, he might get suspicious.”

You took a moment to process her words before gingerly placing your hands at your sides.

“Right, sorry.”

You had every right to be nervous: this was your very first under-cover mission, and you weren’t even sure how long you would stay under-cover for, there were already two operatives found dead and you were feeling incredibly underprepared for it all!

You startled a little when you felt Mai gently place her hand on your shoulder, surprised by the gentle grin she was giving you.

“Hey, relax. You’re gonna be okay.”

You smiled back at her and silently thanked her for her reassurance.

“Lemme see if I’ve got this right: you and Kaiba used to be a thing, and now you aren’t, then you worked together to save his company, then you haven’t spoken in years, and now you’re working together _again_?”

You frowned at what she may have been implying.

“That’s the gist of it, yeah.”

“Did you fuck?”

You felt your face explode with warmth.

“Mai!”

Mai whistled.

“Well that certainly explains the sexual tension between you two. And now you’re dating that doc who saved you, how’s that going? Do you do any kind of doctor-patient roleplay?”

Your nose crinkled.

“Eww, no. Mai, we shouldn’t be talking about that in public.”

Mai laughed.

“Relax kid, I’m just giving you shit.” She pulled out a cigarette and lit it casually, taking in the silence that surrounded the two of you as she relished her tobacco. “So, what _does_ your boyfriend think about this mission?” Mai casually asked, her attention shifted to picking at her nails while she spoke.

“Oh. He actually took it well,” you explained, thinking back to that conversation you had with him.

_  
You had just gotten home from another long day of your undercover training, opening the door to the apartment with a loud groan- though you stopped mid-groan when you noticed something that smelled delicious coming from the kitchen, making your underfed stomach growl loudly. Slipping your shoes off at the door you smiled to yourself when you were met with the sight of Ryou cooking in the kitchen._

_“What’s that you’re making?” you asked as you made your way to the small kitchenette, wrapping your arms around your little chef.  
Ryou smiled as he looked at you from over his shoulder, wearing a simple tee shirt and a pair of lounge pants instead of his scrubs that you were almost certain he never took off._

_“Just a little something my mum used to make.”_

_You smiled and playfully smushed his face with one hand._

_“I love the way you say ‘mum’.”_

_Ryou laughed a little before he kissed your forehead and returned his attention to the meal he was making for the two of you._

_“How was work today?” he asked off-handedly._

_Oh right. Both of your schedules had been so hectic that you haven’t really gotten to see each other, so you hadn’t been able to tell him about your upcoming mission._

_You gave a sigh as you stepped away from him and pulled out a chair at the table to sit in._

_“Uhh, about that...”_

_Ryou looked over his shoulder at you and gave you a curious and concerned look, then he plated your food and placed it in front of you._

_“Did something happen?” he asked as he sat himself down in the chair next to you and gently enclosed one of yout hands in both of his._

_You sighed heavily and ran your free hand over your exhausted face._

_“I’m gonna have to go under-cover.”_

_Ryou’s brows shot up in shock._

_“Oh. Uh, alright. That must be exciting, huh?” he asked as he took back his hands and began to eat his meal, eager to listen to all you had to tell him._

_You gave him a wry laugh as you curiously picked at your own plate._

_“Yeah, exciting. Sure.” You took a bite, leaning back into your seat and happily moaning as you chewed. “It’s been so long since I’ve had an actual home-cooked meal, thank you Ryou.”_

_Your boyfriend laughed heartily at your endearing reaction to his cooking._

_“Consider it my way of making up for lost time. Uh, speaking of which,” he then leaned forward a little, looking hesitant and unsure of himself, “how long do you think you’re going to be under-cover for?”_

_You sighed after taking another bite._

_“...I’m not sure. You remember that call I got a few days ago, that one I got early in the morning?” Ryou nodded, “I’m going to have to go undercover to get Yugi’s brother out of that yakuza gang, and while I know I’ll have to do it quickly I’m just not sure how long it’ll take.”_

_Ryou nodded slowly._

_“Have you ever done anything like this before?”_

_You pressed your lips together, then clenched and unclenched your hands out of nervousness._

_“I’ve been trained to do these things in school. I’ve done STING operations before. I’ve been shot at, stabbed, blown up, and nearly killed on the line before. But...all of those things had a relatively predictable pattern,” you looked up at Ryou, realizing that all of the fear that you have apparently had was bubbling to the surface and finally being let out. “This Doma gang is unpredictable, and their leader is incredibly elusive. Hell, we think they killed a guy just after we got done talking with him!”_

_Ryou sat quietly, giving you an occasional sympathetic nod as he whole-heartedly listened to you pour out your anxieties._

_“I’ve never actually been sent undercover, and I’m absolutely scared shitless for it. I know that I’ll have_ some _help, but what if it turns out that I’ve misplaced my trust in people? What if I’m stabbed in the back and die an unknown death because I was too underprepared for any of this? What if-“_

_Ryou stopped you by saying your name softly and clearly, easily breaking you from your panic. His soft hands gently cupped your face and his sweet melted-chocolate gaze was enough to calm you._

_“Listen to me” he gave you a confident smile. “You are one of the most fearless, intelligent, and amazing women that I have ever known, if not the most. You can do this, you have so many people who believe that you will bring Yugi’s brother back safely! You have people you can rely on and trust, all of whom I’m sure would be willing to do whatever it takes to ensure you make it out of this mission alive.”_

_You smiled thankfully at him, tears making your eyes shine as you leaned into his soft hands._

_“Thank you Ryou, I appreciate your confidence in me.”_

_Ryou’s smile was so sweet that you were certain it would give you cavities. He leaned back and continued to eat._

_“So, when are you starting this undercover mission?” he asked as though the two of you were discussing something as trivial as the weather._

_You flushed at him guiltily._

_“Tomorrow?” you said quietly._

_Ryou nearly choked on the food he was chewing, attempting to stifle his coughs and quickly drinking his water._

_“Tomorrow??? I wasn’t expecting you to have to leave so soon!”_

_You slightly began to panic and stammer at his reaction._

_“I know, I know, and I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting it either! They want to send me in as soon as possible out of fear that Atem might be in danger.”_

_Ryou finally caught enough of his breath to calm himself down, sensing that you were pretty high strung and just as worried about this mission as he was._

_“Fair enough, I suppose I’m just going to miss you is all,” he said as he tenderly rubbed his thumb over your knuckles, something that made your heart melt like butter on a hot pan._

_“I’m going to miss you too. I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to communicate with you or anything, with how dangerous this gang is.”_

_Ryou nodded solemnly._

_“I suppose it might be a little bit of wishful thinking, but you_ could _visit me at the hospital if you_ really _need to,” he teased, giving you a nudge and a wink._

_You laughed dryly._

_“And speaking of nudges and winks,” you trailed your hand so that it nestled into Ryou’s incredibly soft white locks and you gently pulled him closer to you, gently brushing your lips together. “Since it’s our last night together, why don’t we splurge a little and treat ourselves?”_

_Ryou’s face grew pink at your seduction, but he played it off a little and gave you a coy grin in return._

_“Funny how two minds think alike, I was about to offer the same thing.”_

 

Your heart sunk a little as you thought of not seeing your sweet Ryou for a while, but both of you knew that this was incredibly important for you to accomplish.

Mai pulled you back into reality by lightly tapping your shoulder.

“That’s their car, they’re here.”

_Fuck._

Your heart leapt into your throat to an almost literal degree as a slick black Jaguar pulled up on the street corner in front of you. You recognized the driver as Rafael almost right off the bat, he looked _much_ bigger in person. Valon was practically hanging out of the window after it was rolled down, he pulled down his shades and gave a cheeky half-grin to Mai.

“I didn’t know you started offerin’ services on street corners this early in the day!” Mai glared at him and blew smoke in his face, which made him chuckle nervously, “right, I was just jokin’.” His blue eyes drifted over to you and they brightened with curiosity, “and who’s this? That new recruit you were talkin’ about?”

Mai clapped a hand on your shoulder, making you stiffen a little.

“That’s what I said in the text, wasn’t it?”

Valon frowned at Mai.

“Alright, I can see that you’re not in the mood.” He then turned to you and offered a smile, “my name’s Valon, and this big guy’s name is Rafael.”

Rafael didn’t even give you a sideways glance, though his eyes were hidden by his own sunglasses. He only stared straight ahead and kept his hands on the wheel. Valon laughed at his lack of response.

“Don’t let him intimidate you though! He may be big and scary, but he’s really not as mean as he seems! Anyways, what’s your name?”

Honda was right when he said Valon was the more talkative one, but you weren’t expecting this level of chattiness from someone who’s had such a traumatic childhood. It wasn’t any wonder the Doma was gaining more members if someone as charming as Valon was doing the recruiting.

You easily introduced yourself with your undercover name.

“Nice to meet you!” he replied cheerily.

He hopped out of the car and approached you, you noticed he held a cloth in his hand. You gave him a questioning look and he gave an apologetic laugh in return.

“Sorry, we have to blindfold all of the new recruits. You know, to protect ourselves from police raids and shit. They won’t be able to find us if people don’t know where they’re going!” he said as he tapped the side of his head.

You chewed on the inside of your cheek. _Damnit, this is going to make getting Atem out of here a little more difficult._ You nodded and leaned forward a little to help Valon tie the blindfold around your eyes, the thick cloth unnerved you when you straightened up and couldn’t see a damned thing.

“Now, as fun as this Birdbox challenge thing is, I’ll get you situated in the car,” Valon explained as he took your arm and helped you into the car.

Confusion and brief panic overcame you again.

“Wait, is Mai not coming?”

Valon laughed.

“Don’t see why she has to, this is _your_ initiation, after all!”

You could hear Mai start to talk in the background, but as soon as you were seated the door was shut and you could feel the car start its drive. 

Meaning you were alone and blindfolded in a car with the man who may have murdered two people your boss worked closely with for who knows how long taking you to who knows where.


End file.
